Commission Report (2002): Czech Republic
The minority
Social Democrat government continued to function normally in both domestic
and foreign affairs and to pursue its programme of economic and social
reform. It completed its full term in office, which began in 1998 and was
brought to a close by the parliamentary election of 14 -- 15 June 2002.
The Organisation for Security and co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitored
the elections, at the invitation of the Czech government, and found that the
election process met all international standards. In particular, the Czech
Statistical Office acted as a model of transparency by efficiently publishing
the election results.
As no party won a simple majority of seats, the President invited the
leader of the largest party, the Social Democrats (CSSD), to conduct talks
with other parties with a view to forming a government. Subsequently, on 15
July the President appointed the new government composed of the CSSD and the
Coalition parties. The CSSD has 11 ministers including the Prime Minister,
the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), has 3 ministers including Foreign
Minister, and the Freedom Union (US-DEU) has 3 ministers. This new coalition
government has a majority of 101 seats out of 200 in the House of
Deputies.
There continues to be a basic consensus amongst political parties in
favour of European Union membership. Prior to the elections the outgoing
government continued to meet regularly the main opposition parties to review
progress on EU accession. The new government has confirmed accession to the
European Union as a top priority.
© European Commission
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